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Look, I know I said I’d make you all gift guides in our Traditional Treehouse House Style (see Year One: 1, 2, 3; and Year Two: 1, 2, 3), but as the days go by, isn’t it feeling a little oversaturated out there? Like we’re all just little plastic balls popping around a Hungry, Hungry Hippo board of affiliate links?1 Just me?
Instead, I want to do two things here:
One, I’m going to direct you to *other* great gift guides that have already come through. There are many!
Two, I can’t completely abstain (or potentially disappoint! ugh!), so down at the bottom, there is a short list of great gifts—not organized by theme, not backgroundless-objects-in-space, but a handful of good ideas. Simple!
New Yorker, Presents for Kids: This is a fantastic list, put together by someone who clearly understands the types of things kids are into, not just lots of design-forward things that grownups like. (See: Make your own comic kit; fossilized poop.) When you lead with the Friendly Loom, we are speaking the same language. In a word, “Lovecraftian.”
New York Magazine, “Every Type of Brother”: If there is one category more commonly confusing to gift than children, it’s usually “man.” This is a very good and long list of ideas, organized around an idea of “brother,” but I think any perplexing dude (or, really, other gendered category) in your life could be well-attended to here.
Read Max: Speaking of perplexing dudes, my big-time pal and not-usually-lifestyle-journalist, Max Read, recently got in on the game—with a heavy assist from his extremely chic, but in a scaldingly sarcastic way, Ari. Good list, m’buds!
Plum Sykes: Speaking of people leading with chic (as opposed to, say, Lovecraftian), Plum Sykes is the answer. This list is especially good if you are sensitive to the accumulation of stuff in someone’s life and personal space. Lemon soaps, I see you.
Commonplace Zines, free zines: Diametrically opposed in tambour, Commonplace Zines has a great list of completely free zines, which you can download, print, and give away! Such a great idea. Small and stocking-ready.
LGM Projects, Windsor edition: Another bud, Lizzie Mettler went to England and Scotland and rediscovered the Royal Warrant—a convenient sorting mechanism for great goods worthy of a box and a bow! (There were also stocking stuffer ideas from her, earlier.)
Make / Do, Analog Gifts: A really wonderful and concise and *thoughtful* assortment by Erin Boyle. She also links through to past lists, should you want more.
Still We Rise: Do-good and give-back gifts, another very solid idea! Who knew that the ACLU had a whole (abundant!) gifts section, including, but very much not limited to, a pocket Constitution? (Apparently, Lindsay Meyer-Harley.)
À La Carte Holiday Shop & Early Bird: If all else fails, surely one of these two completists, Ali LaBelle or Maggie, has got your back—no stone unturned hereabouts!
And now: A Short List of Great Gifts~~
Met Stickers
Buds Al & Jay gave one of my kids the John Derian Stickerbook a couple years back. I love the idea of stickers than everyone in the family wants to play around with (no disrespect to my gal Bluey).
Big Chaotic Box of Chocolates by Compartés
I love how stunning and over-the-top this box of chocolates is. If you (or your giftee) prefers things a little more linear, these domino-shaped ones are also fun and pleasingly rectilinear.
Chef’s Tweezers Set
Food-focused friend who’s already got the gear? I’m thinking they *don’t* have tweezers yet and even if they’re totally unnecessary, could make for a pretty good chuckle.
Mason Pierson + Personalized Engraving
Not a flex—because I absolutely did not pay for it and they were likely half the price in the aughts—but I have had a Mason Pierson since high school and used my mom’s before that. There’s really nothing else like them. BUT did you also know that you can get them personally engraved? I mean, that’s a gift.
Mississippi Records CSR Membership
Support independent music by giving a CSR (Community Supported Records) membership from Mississippi Records. There are two different levels, but ultimately you get a minimum of 8 records per year, plus a gift, or at maximum are constantly loaded up with Mississippi-flavored projects, including stuff that’s not even *ON* the internet, mkay?
Oliver Jeffers Illustrated Go Fish
Why play Go Fish with a regular ol’ Bicycle deck, when there’s an *Oliver Jeffers* one?
Malta Writing Retreat (side of Yoga + Meditation)
For when you want to go extremely generous and potentially life-changing, there’s an upcoming writing retreat in Malta, with accompanying yoga and meditation by my Ur-pal Julia Bembenek.
Something from Match Pewter, probably engraved
I recently picked up a Match pewter frame for an old family photo in our lives and it’s just so very beautiful to behold. A frame with a significant picture would be such a sweet gift. Or, say, an engraved cup for a new baby in your life. You get the idea—pewter! (NB: New pewter = lead free, not like vintage!)
Kokedema
Kokedama is a Japanese indoor planting method, where plants are put in a soil ball that’s covered in moss. No pot! No problem? (I think?) Beautiful and unusual, I’m sure you’ve got a friend like that?
Stylophone S1 Pocket Synthesizer
I gave one of these to Jesse last year and it is a lot of fun. Potentially useful to the songbirds in your life! Famously, David Bowie used one for Space Oddity.
Maria La Rosa Shiny Socks
I love this gift because it’s a small token of appreciation, maybe something you wouldn’t necessarily indulge in for yourself, and entirely extra and fun—what we call a “wicked combo” in our household.
Hannah Via Field of Hens Blanket
After the ‘mas, it’s snuggle season until spring, which I *believe* means that a cozy throw blanket, like this organic cotton one by Hannah Via, could just just the thing.
Wonder Valley Better Bath Set
If someone in your life could really use a soak, this is the one. All-inclusive!
Bluetooth Audio Adapter
I’m going to go ahead and say this is the most romantic item on this list. This adapter has an AUX input and can connect to two Bluetooth-ready headsets, so you can watch the same flight programming with the object of your affection. Or, like, siblings can. Or friends. Look, you can watch the same thing.
Loewe Candle/holder
This is the most expensive single taper in the entire world, but I have to include it because I love it so much. Sorry for the price point!
Tiny TV or Thumby
Akron-based Tiny Circuits is on a mission to ‘put the fun back into STEM’ and they are achieving this by creating the smallest gadgets—I don’t want to speak for you, but—you have ever seen. Thumby is an indescribably tiny Gameboy-ish that you can load with games created by Tiny Circuits, or make your own. TinyTV is a cracker-sized TV that, again, you preload with lots of programming and then it PLAYS IT FOR YOU? How??
Thanks for being here!
OK, mild disclaimer on the sarcasm here because I do use affiliate links (although not in this particular treatise), where applicable, and I generally don’t get The Big Fuss as long as it’s not affecting one’s editorial choices. Onward!
You always find the coolest stuff, Zinzi! x
Such a good call on Match—thanks for the reminder; and thank you for the shout!